oh i dsperately wanted my mtv as a pre-teen!! we never had it in my house and so my only thrill was when i would go to a friend's house...there were some cheap, free options - friday night videos and something bizarre called colorsounds....not the same.

to catch up on all that i must have been missing on 120 minutes there is now vh1 classic's version. a guilty cable pleasure.
Minerva Oblongata | 05.08.07 - 7:17 am | #

MTV nonetheless deserves a nod for trying to pitch public affairs to younger viewers.

And when exactly would that be, Mr. Gilbert? Is that sandwiched somewhere between the drunken loutishness and the open thuggery?

My question for some years has been: How do the producers at MTV sleep at night? Mrs. Kuhl and I used to be big fans of Road Rules; the Real World was always too static, but we enjoyed watching people play stupid games in exotic places for cash so they could eat and shower (which perhaps was a metaphor for our working lives). But the casting on both shows (as well as on their game-show crossover Infernos or whatever) steadily devolved to the point of hiring emotionally unstable people whom the producers know will create conflict, sometimes physically. I believe on the first night of the first episode of the latest Inferno, a contestant was booted for clocking someone else. Just in the first episode! He'll be back next round, though. Meanwhile I was flipping around last night, and watched 15 minutes of Real World wherein one of the castmates yanked his girlfriend around during an argument which spilled onto the street, then was arrested for public urination and spent the night in the drunk tank. That's upstanding television!

MTV: the best "public affairs" programming since "Bum Fights."
Jackson Kuhl | 05.08.07 - 7:45 am | #

give credit to mtv for the genre that they have defined and perfected over the past few years:

reality-based teenaged dramas

fascinating watches.....
Rob | Homepage | 05.08.07 - 9:44 am | #

I pretty much watched the birth and death of MTV. I agree with Leonardo - about the last time it caught my attention was in the late mid-ish 90's. I shoulda known that it was all downhill after Headbangers Ball ate it, followed by YoMTV Raps and later 120 Minutes.

Oh and how I loved that one video by that one band that did that one song. God damn - I remember the Screaming Trees video, most of the Madonna videos, Cindi Lauper, most of the other early 80's hits.

Everyone hated Kennedy. I thought she was hot and very much before her time. She was ultra hipster before most of these tight-jean wearin' fucked up rendition of a flop havin, sad bitches. (I'm looking at you Connor Oberst).

For all the love of the free market, when the 'M' changed from music to mass-indoctrination, I hit the off-switch.

Now that I'm thinking about Kennedy, I'm going to have to go find some hot pics of her from back in the day and punch the clown.
colson | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 11:44 pm | #